How I Became An Assassin
by KurunaGirl
Summary: "I never wanted to be an assassin...I was forced to choose this path...but now, I know I can use my knowledge for good, by saving you." We always see stories of May being an assassin, but why? How was she trained in the art of killing? Contestshipping AU.
1. Prologue

EDIT May 2014: I started this fanfiction in 2011, and stopped at the chapter "The Unhelpful Introductions". I was struggling over re-writing this whole story or continuing it from where I left off, and I decided on the latter option in the end. The first few chapters might be edited slightly to fix grammatical errors, but the story is still the same. I hope you'll enjoy this fanfiction!

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><p>Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon<p>

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><p><span>How I Became an Assassin<span>

Prologue

**_"I never wanted to be an assassin, it just turned out to be this way..."_**

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><p>"<em>Good morning gentlemen, today I would like to present you with an opportunity of a lifetime…"<em>

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><p>"May!" Misty called. "Wait up!"<p>

Said girl turned around and smiled at Misty.

"What's the problem?" May asked. "Is Dawn forcing us to go clothes shopping again?"

"Yes!" Dawn squealed, popping out from behind them. "Come on, I already wore all my clothes once, and it's our freshman year! We _need_ new clothes every day!"

May and Misty rolled their eyes at Dawn as their bouncy friend took off without them to make a beeline towards the nearest mall.

"Sometimes, I forget that she's really rich," Misty said, sighing. "It took me a month to save for my new swimsuit!"

"Her family's famous as well," May added. "She just acts normal all the time-"

"-unless it's clothes shopping," Misty finished. They heaved a sigh together. The two of them didn't hate shopping, but shopping once every few days was exhausting for them. Not to mention that they didn't have that much to spend, so they usually chatted about the new season's fashion whilst they watched Dawn rampaging through the clothes store.

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><p>"<em>We need you to infiltrate this girl, and after obtaining every single bit of information from her, we need you to kill her."<em>

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><p>"Dawn," May said, sighing. "We've been clothes shopping for over an hour! Are you done yet?"<p>

"Nope!" was Dawn's cheerful reply, before she helpfully added: "I still need a few more dresses and I'll be halfway done!"

Misty tapped her foot impatiently on the ground. "And twenty pairs of shoes to go with them, right?" she said sarcastically.

"Don't forget the stockings!" Dawn reminded her, twirling around in a pink dress she had just tried on.

May's stomach grumbled. "Can we have a snack yet?" she asked hopefully. "I heard that a new store opened in the food court-"

"Nope!" Dawn said yet again. "Can't you see I'm still shopping?"

"Then can we go swimming after this?" Misty asked, bored out of her brains.

"Oh yeah! I almost forgot to buy swimsuits!" Dawn exclaimed, piquing Misty's interest. The two of them walked over to the swimwear section; Dawn skipping along, Misty's quick steps tapping on the marble ground. May slowly made her way after them, frowning as she realized that her snack time was going to be delayed even further.

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><p>"<em>Torturing doesn't work with this girl, so I need you to send a female assassin-it must be a girl-to befriend her and steal information from the inside. The target will change schools in a year, though she doesn't know that. In her new school, befriend her before she finds new friends."<em>

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><p>"Finally, ramen noodles for my poor stomach!" May exclaimed ravenously. She started slurping up the noodles greedily, engrossed in curing her hunger. Seeing that she was too busy to strike up any conversation, the two other girls shrugged and began to chat.<p>

"Well, I finally finished shopping!" Dawn announced, hugging all her bags of clothing. "Seeing this huge pile of clothes means that-"

"You never have to go clothes shopping again." Misty cut in, her face in a deadpan. "If you ever get a boyfriend, I don't know how he'll be able to stand your shopping habits."

"Ew," Dawn replied, her face twisted in disgust. "Boys are loud and disgusting and the opposite of cute me."

Misty opened her mouth to make a wisecrack, but wisely gave up. Glancing over at May still slurping her noodles, she asked wistfully, "When is it my turn to be happy? Dawn's finished shopping and May's hunger is satisfied, so when can we go swimming?"

"It's already late afternoon, so how about tomorrow, since it's Saturday today?" Dawn suggested.

May nodded in agreement, her full mouth preventing her from speaking whilst Misty let out a cheer.

"It's finally my turn to have fun!" Misty said, unable to contain the huge smile on her face.

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><p>"<em>You have one and a half years for this project. Since you're forced to wait a year for the target to change schools, you have half a year to obtain what information you need from the target. Use this year wisely, gather information and do not make mistakes when you are in operation."<em>

_The man, having finished his speech, stood up and slid a picture across the table. He snapped his fingers, and suddenly, five men dressed in black came out from the shadows. They surrounded the man, and they seemed to vanish, but in fact, they had simply slipped out through an inconspicuous doorway._

_The remaining men in the room glanced at the picture the man had left behind and eyed each other carefully._

"_We have to take the job," one said. "But we don't have a female assassin young enough for the job."_

_A second glanced briefly at the others in the room, his eyes cold and calculating."Then we have a year to train a girl how to be an assassin," he said calmly. "D, can we have the honour of letting you choose the girl?"_

_A young man, not even past his twenties, looked up. "Sure. What criteria are you looking for?"_

_The man let out the faintest glimpse of a smile. "Well, find one which seems…different. I don't need crybabies in the training arena." With that, all the men simultaneously stood up and they exited the room, flitting through the doors like leaves blown in a breeze. If you entered the room a moment later, you would never realize that there had been anyone in the room at all._

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><p>Well, this was just the prologue, mostly about the mysterious people. Do you like the idea? Please tell me what you think in a review! Actually, Dawn and Misty won't appear again for a long, long time, but they had to appear <em>somewhere<em> or it'd be really weird if they randomly appeared in the story. This story is focused on May and Drew, after all!

Chapter One's going to come out in a few hours, most likely!

~KurunaGirl


	2. Where Am I?

Thanks Reviewer! Actually, I know that they're a lot of Assassin AUs out there, but they never really state how that person_ became_ an assassin. Or, at least, I didn't find any in this May/Drew category yet. There's a twist in this story, but not this early into the story!

P.S. Do you have a fanfiction account?

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><p>Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon<p>

Warning: Slight OOC-ness in this chapter

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><p><span>How I Became An Assassin<span>

Where Am I?

**"...I was forced to give up everything I had..."**

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><p><em>The man let out the faintest glimpse of a smile. "Well, find one which seems…different. I don't need crybabies in the training arena." With that, all the men simultaneously stood up and they exited the room, flitting through the doors like leaves blown in a breeze.<em>

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><p>May walked cheerfully back home, happy that she could go swimming the next day. She went up to her house, and rang the doorbell.<p>

Her mom, Caroline, opened the door almost immediately. "Well, May, welcome home!" she greeted. "I guess you're late because a certain someone 'needed' to go shopping?"

"Yes, she did," May replied. "But I'm going swimming tomorrow!" she added with a cheer.

"Be careful," Caroline warned. "You've seen how many girls have been 'interrogated' by men these few days, and men with guns!"

"Just weirdos scaring girls for no apparent reason," May said, shrugging, "And why would they pick me, of all people to 'interrogate'?"

"Well, just be careful!" Caroline warned once again. "You're father's still sick and I need to tend to him. Max is doing his homework in his room, so just don't make a lot of noise, okay? I don't need two grumpy males shouting at me that they can't hear themselves think, when they're obviously creating a bigger racket."

May giggled. "Don't worry Mom, I'm just going to watch TV," she reassured. "And I'll even turn the volume really low!"

Caroline disappeared back upstairs and May headed to the living room. She turned on the TV and plopped on the couch.

"News, nope." May said, channel surfing. "Teletubbies, nope. Ben 10, nope. Weird show, nope. Oh well, I'll just watch the music channel then."

"_-please listen to the wonderful movements from Mozart, and-"_

"Seriously, classical music?" May said incredulously. "Oh well, guess I'll listen to it for a little while."

She sat back and relaxed for the first time in that day. Listening to classical music always brought her peace. A second movement had just started playing when a faint sound disrupted her rest. May frowned and opened her eyes.

'_That sound was… unnatural.'_ May thought._ 'I wonder what happened? It sounds like something fell on the ground.'_

May decided that Max had dropped his textbook on the floor or something, and continued listening peacefully to her music. Another disruption soon followed.

May could practically _feel _someone staring at her, and it didn't feel like her family members. That mystery person was most likely spying on her, and May fought to keep her breathing and her heartbeat going at an even pace.

'_He, or she, doesn't know that I sense him/her,'_ May told herself, trying to quell the feeling of panic. _'But what if it's just someone from school? Oh yeah, they wouldn't be stealthily breaking into people's houses and spying on an average girl.'_

She heard the faintest sound of the person moving, and suddenly, she was grabbed by her shoulders and roughly twisted around.

She looked at her attacker, eyes wide.

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><p>D mentally sighed. This girl was not going to meet the criteria. One, she was almost crying already. Two, she looked kind of <em>cute<em>. Blech. Three, he was pretty sure she was going to scream in the next half second.

She didn't.

D was quite amused. Every girl he came across would usually scream, or cry. This girl was just staring at him, terrified.

"What do you want?" she whispered.

"Well, if I really used all this time to sneak into your house, what do you think?" he said, tilting his head in amusement.

The girl's muscles didn't tense to claw out his eyes, or take a deep breath to scream. The girl just continued to stare at him.

'_Okay, so this staring supposed to meet the criteria?'_ D thought. _'Well, at least she didn't scream yet.' _

No one saw it coming.

A hardcover book travelled through the air and hit D square on the head. He reeled back, and the girl, or May, quickly used that time to being running up the stairs to her family.

D was still reeling from the attack and the shock of how the girl managed to attack him. He hadn't even seen her pick up the book.

_'T__his means that I can stop searching for a girl now, I guess,'_ he thought as he quickly recovered and began his pursuit after May. He saw the girl trip on a stair and fall down. Her head hit the carpet with a loud _thunk_.

'_Quite pathetic,'_ he thought, _'tripping down the stairs after managing to escape from me. At least she didn't see what happened to her family.' _With that, he picked up May and slung her over his shoulder. Another man appeared from the garden, and the two males leapt into a black car with their prize and drove away.

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><p>"Well, well, well," a man said, pacing in a circle around May. "What do we have here?"<p>

May was collapsed on the ground, still unconscious.

"Why is she unconscious?" the man barked at D.

"She fell down the stairs." D replied.

"And she's correct criteria because of that?" the man sneered.

"No, I chose her because she managed to hit me on the head with a book." D replied stiffly.

"Did you let her hit you?" the man asked, a sadistic smile playing at the corner of his lips.

D stood there for a little while before shaking his head.

"Well, D, I might have to question your position, then," the man said, "you're supposed to be the strongest throughout the world. But this girl certainly has some spark. For your punishment-"

D looked up, his eyes narrowing.

The man smirked at that. "For your punishment," he repeated, "You will be held back from any missions for a year. A hereby proclaim you as the mentor of this girl. So, have fun! Your new codename in M, by the way."

D, now known as M, looked down again_. 'This is going to be a fun year,'_ he thought bitterly.

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><p>May stirred and finally woke up. She opened her eyes, just to find herself face-to-face with a guy in black shades. She gasped.<p>

"Welcome, May." The man said. "You can call me A. You are in one of our training arenas, and don't try to escape. I'm afraid we've employed you as one of us, so have fun here." With that, he went through a doorway and disappeared.

May still looked confused from the huge lack of information the man gave her, and shakily stood up. She was still recovering from the shock of being kidnapped, and how…strange the guy was. As M neared her, she drew back, frightened.

"What do you want?" she said, tears welling up in her eyes. "Why did you kidnap me? Why did you bring me here? Why do you have green eyes? Why did you dye your hair that disgusting shade of green?"

M sighed. He really hated his new codename, and this girl was so downright annoying when she wanted to be. He was snapped out of his self-pity by a clunk on his head. And in exactly the same place where the book hit him. He winced.

"Hello?" May's angry voice rang through the arena. "Are you even _listening _to me?"

M smiled to himself. This girl certainly had a spark in her. He ignored her just to see what she would do.

May puffed out her cheeks in anger. M continued smirking and closed his eyes for a few seconds.

Bad idea.

Who knew girls could be that lethal when they were angry?

May went over to one of the flamethrowers. "What's this?" she said curiously and pressed the button. She melted a door off its hinges before M wrestled the flamethrower away from her.

"Stop it," he growled.

"If I stop, can I go home?" she said hopefully.

"No." M said, sighing. This girl was so bipolar, she was driving him mad. He kept a firm grip on her and led her to a room off one of the doorways. There was nothing special in the room, only a table and two chairs. This was actually the torture chamber, but M didn't tell May that.

"Let's start from the beginning. You are May Maple, correct?" M asked.

"Nope," May said cheerfully. "I'm a juicy pumpkin."

M glanced at the Lying Machine hidden in the wall. The pointer was still pointing at 'Truth'.

"What?" May said innocently. "That's my nickname."

'_Gah, this girl has too much spark in her,'_ M thought. _'Though she can be a great assassin, at this rate, we won't get any progress. How can she act that well that it's completely unbelievable?'_

"Are you fourteen?" M asked.

"Ye-No. Fourteen years and fifteen days." May answered. M pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Do you know where you are?" he asked, tired of the pointless interrogating.

"No, unless you tell me," May answered. She was keeping up her fake side for as long as possible.

M sighed, tapping his fingers on the table. "Stop acting like that, or we'll make you unable to talk for the rest of your life." From his belt he took out a long dagger, twirling it in his hand nonchalantly.

May eyed it warily. "Fine, I'll act 'normal', then." she said grumpily. "Can I go home if I do so?"

"You won't ever be able to go home, so stop asking." he snapped. M was getting annoyed of her in what, ten minutes? And he still had a year to go.

"Let's start with introductions. We are the corporation SLY. Put it in a different order, and we are LYS, or Let You Serve. Scramble up the letters for Let You Serve, and you'll get three words. Toy. Use. Revel. We toy with you, we use you, we kill you, then we revel in the prize we get from all that trouble. Simple?"

"You're assassins?" May looked horrified. She thought she was kidnapped by a weird street gang terrorizing girls, not those guys on TV.

"Yes. And you're going to be one in a year." M said.

"No." May said firmly. Kidnap her, bring her here then force her to be an assassin? They would _never _be able to do that.

"Would you prefer a memory wipeout, then?" M asked. "Then you'll be a cheerful slave, following all my orders. Which one will you choose?"

"How about Option C?" May suggested. "Just kill me instead."

"Why would you think that?" M asked curiously.

"Well, I'd rather die than kill other people," May answered.

"Nice answer," M replied, slightly amused, before continuing, "However, if you don't follow our commands, I'm afraid we'll have to kill your family." M was tired of the game he was playing, and went back into business. "Right now they are in custody, and beware of what you say and do. Their lives are at stake."

May seemed to be struggling with something inside her. Finally, she sighed in defeat. "Where do we start?" she asked quietly.

M smiled. They were finally getting somewhere.

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><p>As I warned you, May is acting OOC here! Well, she was pretending to be Dawn, then Misty. She didn't know that she was kidnapped by assassins, right?<p>

Argh, this chapter is so short! The action starts in the next chapter, so wait for it!

And I'm pretty sure you know who 'M' (or 'D') is. I'll reveal what the codenames mean in the later chapters! Just have fun guessing while you're waiting! Or maybe you already know!

~KurunaGirl


	3. Are You Crazy?

Hi peoples! How are you? Did school start yet for you? I started on the 1st of September. Boo hoo.

Wow! So many reviews, alerts and favs! Thanks everyone! *smiles like an idiot*

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon

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><p><span>How I Became An Assassin<span>

Are You Crazy?

**"...they forced me to learn these techniques..."**

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><p>M led a strangely quiet May to a practice maze. May's eyes were downcast through the small journey through the maze of tunnels in the training arena. M stopped walking, making May bump into him, but she continued to look vacantly at the floor.<p>

'_This girl is way too bipolar,_' M thought. '_She was so angry a few seconds ago and now she's so sad. Well, time to do the preliminary tests.'_

M poked May, making her look up. Her eyes widened when she saw the impressively large practise 'maze' in front of her. If you really would call it a maze.

There were tightropes with nothing underneath to support your fall; the longest monkey bar May had ever seen in her life; a small fenced area containing a lion, and wait, did she really see that? May blinked and saw that her eyesight was OK; there really was a jellyfish tank. Oh, and did she even think about the other horrible things in the practise maze? Well, she did, and desperately wished she hadn't.

M, on the other hand, didn't even flinch at the sight of the practice maze. "This is the novice training area," he said, sighing. "And each part tests you on a different skill. I'm going to time you, and see how well you do in different areas. Try to be well-rounded and good in every aspect."

May just stood there, gaping.

M sighed yet again and continued, "If you don't do your best, then you might probably die, and no, I won't save you. So _don't slack off_, OK?"

May nodded slightly.

"Good," M said with fake enthusiasm. "You see that doorway there? That's the female changing room. Change into one of the outfits there, and all the novice's outfits are one-size-fits all. Just change, and I'll give you five minutes to do so. Go over five minutes, and you'll feel my wrath."

May practically zoomed off to the changing room, leaving M to his thoughts.

'_Well, well, well,'_ he thought to himself. _'I still don't really think the girl can fit all that training in one year, but if she fails in the middle of her training, we won't have enough time to train another girl. I guess I can't fail in this 'mission'. This is the worst bout of humiliation I ever got in my career! How can I, the best and youngest assassin in the whole world, lose one year of precious time to mentor this idiotic girl?'_

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><p>May reappeared, snapping M out of his thoughts. She was wearing a simple black T-shirt with black pants and black shoes. Her hair was pulled into a messy ponytail.<p>

M eyed her. "Good," he said mostly to himself, "three minutes and forty-nine seconds. Not bad."

May stared at him. He didn't even look at his watch, and he had a perfect time count in his head? Creepy.

M, still a little lost in his thoughts, guided May to a raised metal platform off to a side. The second May stepped onto it, lots of rods, wires, and finally, a screen popped out for M to use.

"Authorise identity profile recording," M said clearly. "Full profile needed."

The machines immediately reacted. The platform recorded her weight, noted her height, how long her hair was, her eye colour, her fingerprint, the shape of her nails and other nitty gritty details, while an X-Ray machine scanned the versatility and strength of her muscles and the density of her bones. May stood there, eyes wide, as the machines and their wires went flying round her.

"Eep!" she managed, right before a stick was shoved into her mouth to take a sample of her saliva.

M watched with amusement as May tried to step off the platform, but a mechanic arm shoved her back into place. She winced as something went _thwack!_ on her head to test her reflexes. (She failed that bit) Finally, all the equipment disappeared back into the platform and May staggered off, spitting out some plastic pieces out of her mouth that was used to test the strength of her teeth.

M expected May to shriek at him, but instead she just kept saying, "Ow,ow,ow,ow…" over and over again.

'_Well, that's progress,'_ M noted to himself. _'More obedient, though still very noisy. I guess my dagger scared her.'_

May _had _noticed the dagger a few minutes ago, a very sharp piece of metal the size of a small sword. M didn't even sheath it and it hung from his belt, looking terrifyingly deadly. Though May was quite sure they wouldn't kill her on purpose, they wouldn't hesitate to inflict deep wounds on her.

"Be quiet," M snapped, making May stop saying "Ow". "So, as I said, this is the novice training arena. _Just stand up straight, will you? _The test I'm setting for you today will test you for a little bit in everything; strength, endurance, logic, and other things like that. You ready?"

May didn't say anything.

"I said, _are you ready?"_ M repeated, a steely edge coming into his tone.

"Well, whatever I say won't change anything, so yes," May said, sighing.

M nodded in approval. "Well, from now on, when I ask you a question, answer immediately or I will slice you with my dagger. Understood?"

"Yes sir!" May mock saluted. M rolled his eyes.

"Start Phase One test. User: May Maple." M said clearly.

A mechanical voice replied, "Voice Authentication: Drew. User: May Maple. The maze will be ready in 30 seconds."

M winced at the sound of his real name, but to his relief, May wasn't listening to the machine.

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><p>May watched in awe as the lion cage disappeared, just to be replaced by something else. A rope bridge and a tightrope lowered slightly, and May swore that the shark's teeth grew longer. The jellyfish were replaced with piranhas, making her shudder.<p>

"Well, this is your first test," M said matter-of-factly, "I will time you and watch your progress. Start by climbing the ladder."

"Wait_, what?_" May said, tilting her head in confusion. "I just…start? Without doing warm-ups?"

M sighed. "Fine, do warm-ups." he grumbled. "But I'm going to time you anyway. And the longer you take to finish the test, the less food you have for your meals."

May gulped and quickly did a few stretches, jumping jacks and jogged in a small circle, much to M's interest. She then went to the ladder, which was one of those thin, wobbly metal ones, with widely spaced rungs. The ladder leaned on a platform above. It was alarmingly tall.

"What if the ladder falls backwards?" May asked, trembling slightly.

M held the bridge of his nose. "You know, I'm timing here," he reminded. "I remember last time a novice took ages to finish the maze he had to starve for three days, and still had to do his training exercises."

May gulped. _'Come on May, you can do it,'_ she encouraged herself. _'And you know WHY you're doing this.' _With that, she tentatively put her weight on the ladder. It creaked and swayed a bit, freaking her out. M almost laughed at the expression on her face.

"Well, if you can't even climb the ladder, how can you finish the rest?" he taunted. "Come on, time doesn't stop for you!"

May climbed up and slowly but surely, she was halfway through.

That's when the maze kicked into action.

May's simple set of clothes had many hidden tracking sensors on it, and as soon as she passed a small checkpoint in the ladder, a countdown started, though May didn't know it.

_Five._

Left hand.

_Four._

Feet.

_Three._

Right hand.

_Two._

Feet.

One.

Left hand-

The rung fell from her feet, making a loud clanging noise. Far below her, the bottommost rung also fell. May gasped in surprise and lost her grip with her left hand, so she was only hanging on to the ladder with her right hand.

May fought the instinct to scream, and managed to repressed it in fear of M snapping at her for ages and maybe using his dagger on her. Instead, she painfully reached up with her left hand until both hands were on the same rung.

'_I am NOT a boy,'_ May thought furiously. _'Am I supposed to have super strength?"_

The rungs continued falling below her. In around two minutes, May's rung would fall. May took a deep breath and concentrated. She basically did half a back flip and hooked her feet on the rungs, like what you do on monkey bars. Then, using the awesome power of her leg and arm muscles, she finally managed to sit on the rung.

M looked on in approval. _'Nice, but she's straining her muscles with all her panic,'_ he noted._ 'She'll be suffering later on.'_

May was just sitting on the rung, trying to get a breather. By her calculations, she still had half a minute to spare before she had to continue climbing.

"Remember the rungs!" M called warningly.

May looked down in disbelief. The rungs had started falling at a faster rate! She scrambled up the ladder as fast as she dared, cursing the rickety 'Made In China' ladder as she went.

As the finally reached the platform, the last rung fell from the ladder, and the ladder retracted back into the platform. May laughed wryly to herself.

"Huh, I guess it isn't made in China then," she said, crossing the metal platform. The next challenge was one of those things you see in video games and movies, not in real life.

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><p>Tall poles sprouted from the ground, with small platforms on top. Underneath, there was a shark pool with a huge, gigantic shark.<p>

"What am I supposed to do?" May called to M.

"Cross to the other side," M replied simply.

May gritted her teeth. Was she supposed to jump, land perfectly on the platforms and somehow leap to the next platform? And the one after that?

May steeled herself to jump. _'Come on May, take too much time and you'll starve,'_ she told herself sternly. _'Though I doubt the food here will be edible.'_

She took a running start at leapt towards the first orange platform a meter in front of her. She over calculated a bit and nearly fell over the edge. She flung herself backwards, windmilling her arms and gasping in fright.

"That was quite…good." M called. "Though I'd rather watch you fight the shark."

May glared at him. _'One down, a million more to go,' _she thought sarcastically.

The next platform was a little higher than the one May was on, though it was a little closer. This platform was coloured green. She bunny-hopped to the next platform and landed perfectly. M scribbled something in the checklist he was holding.

The platforms were of different sizes, heights and colours. May had been counting the number of platforms she had jumped on, and when she decided she was halfway through all the platforms, she looked closely at the platforms to see if there was something different in them, just in case this test was similar to the ladder, and something would happen at the midway point of this test.

Nothing was different, and the platform beckoned her to jump. She did, and nothing special happened when she landed.

It only started three-quarters through that test.

May, feeling sure that all the platforms didn't hold any more traps, quickly jumped from platform to platform. She was good at anything to do with jumps and leaps because, well, there was a huge tree in her backyard and she loved climbing up it and leaping from branch to branch. However, she wasn't that good at the climbing bit.

May landed on a purple platform and yelped in pain. The platform was burning hot! M chuckled. All the novices fell for the same trick.

May gritted her teeth and leapt to the next platform. This platform was icy cold. So cold that May's toes were getting numb in seconds. The platform was also very, very tiny.

"S-so cold!" May said, dancing around on the platform. M continued watching in amusement.

May decided that this platform wasn't worth standing around, so she leapt to the next platform, hoping that it wasn't too hot or too cold.

It wasn't, but instead, it was covered with sticky glue.

"Eww," May grimaced, trying to lift up her foot. "How am I supposed to jump with this gunk on my shoe?"

Ever stepped in a huge wad of bubble gum? This was how disgustingly sticky the glue was. When May managed to lift one foot up, her other foot was still stuck onto the platform.

"Ugh," May grumbled. She put down her foot and the glue immediately had a firm grip on her poor shoe.

"Let's try another way," May said to herself. She started jumping up and down repeatedly, and M looked up from his note-taking, his face faintly amused.

"Well, jumping up and down doesn't make the glue's stickiness decrease," May said, thinking not so deeply. "Oh well, guess I'll just jump to the next platform then."

She leapt forward, and since the glue was still stuck on the soles of her shoe, the distance she could jump was hindered.

By quite a lot.

May's mind was filled with despair as she under calculated the jump. Her hands managed to have a firm grip on the edge of the next platform, though. This platform was made completely out of steel.

"I'd find a way to get back on the platform soon," M hinted.

"Huh?" May said. "What's going to happen?"

Slime oozed out from the center of the platform, spreading quickly to cover the whole of the platform. The slime touched May's fingertips, and to May it felt like a combination of oil and melted jelly.

"Uh oh," May said as her fingers started sliding from the platform. "I hate thi-ahhhhhh!"

She fell from the platform, accidently banging her head on the platform as she fell. After what felt like an eternity, she made a big _splash!_ as she hit the pool underneath.

"Finally," M said, smirking at May who was disoriented from whacking her head on the platform, "The real entertainment begins."

May's head was all muddled up from the hit on the head and the shock of the cold water. Her thoughts felt like they were wading through treacle. She was floating on her back, an extremely passive expression on her face. Through her hazy mind, she felt something swim closer to her.

'_What was that in this pool again?_' May thought slowly. _'It was big, it was a fish, it had eyes, fins, and it was…what was it again?'_

The shark opened its huge mouth and bit hard into May's arm.

May cried out, the raw pain immediately waking her up. Her mind was bombarded with lessons from her survival book she had to read in fourth grade.

'_Oh no! What should I do?'_ May panicked as she watched her blood diffuse through the water. She was also getting tired of treading water._ 'Umm…punch the shark's eyes and nose?'_

The shark was getting excited from the smell of May's blood. It circled round her, and suddenly, it struck.

May let her instincts take over and she randomly kicked. She actually managed to _kick the shark_, and right in the eye!

The shark's eye swivelled round to stare at her and May gulped as she realized that the shark was just a huge, evil, robot undoubtedly controlled by M or someone equally evil.

"Why is the shark robotic?" May shrieked, swimming away from it as fast as possible. M grinned at her terror.

"Well, if it was a real shark you'd die in seconds," he said nonchalantly. "You still have a long way to go, you know."

May swum to the edge of the pool. There was a ladder 'conveniently' placed there to help her get out of the pool. May single-handedly hoisted herself up, grimacing from the pain in her right arm. She dared to turn around, and the shark was just staying in the middle of the pool, completely unmoving. May shrugged, finished climbing out of the pool and sat down on a wooden surface.

She examined her right arm. It was still bleeding, and May could see where the shark's teeth had pierced her skin.

'_A million germs must have gotten into the cut already,'_ May thought to herself. _'I need to bandage it, but I have nothing on me except my clothes…'_

She clumsily ripped a piece of cloth from her pants and equally clumsily wrapped it around her arm. M rolled his eyes and wrote something down.

"Hey! Stop rolling your eyes at me!" May said grumpily to M.

"Well, you're the worse novice I've ever seen since I've been here," M shot back.

May sighed irritably. "Well, I didn't even want to be an assassin, remember?" she jeered. "How am I supposed to be all assassin-y and stuff?"

"I'm still timing," M said in a sing-song voice. "Since you fell off the platforms, and you were quite high up, you have to climb a ladder to get to the next test."

"Ladders again?" May said, eyes widening. "The rungs are going to fall off again, right? And how am I supposed to climb up a ladder with one arm?"

"I don't know, because _this is a test as well, you idiot."_ M said, writing something down.

May groaned and starting climbing up the ladder propped next to her-slowly. Surprisingly, no rungs fell off. She finally finished climbing the ladder and came to the next test: a tightrope.

"Seriously?" May called down to M. He appeared not to hear her. May rubbed her temples, since she was still feeling the slightest bit dizzy. She stepped onto the rope. It trembled a bit under her. The rope was quite thick, so May managed to walk a few steps quite easily. Then she started losing her balance and wobbled dangerously.

"Uh oh!" May said to herself. "I'm going to smash to the ground this time!"

Just as she was going to fall, a rope shot out from the platform and locked onto the other side. The new rope was just above May's head. May took hold of the new rope and crab walked cautiously to the other side.

Just as she had gotten the hang of walking sideways and holding on to the other rope with her left hand, the top rope snapped and fell to the ground. May was stuck with the original rope again.

"Not again!" May gasped, wobbling unsteadily on the rope. "If I just relax, then I'll-ahh!"

She fell off the rope, but managed to hang on with her good arm. It was like the ladder all over again, but this time her right arm was useless.

"Umm, help please?" May asked M.

M stood there, smirking at her.

"Pretty pretty please with a cherry on top?" May begged. M shook his head.

Her grip on the rope slackened.

"Now?" May asked desperately. M just stood there, unmoving.

May's shriek echoed round the arena when she fell off.

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><p>Here's Chapter Three! Sorry if the tests didn't really make sense, but try to imagine it in your mind or something! I drew the tests out before writing this chapter! And I know the ending seems rushed, but I ran out of ideas for the testsobstacle courses since I need quite a lot for the other chapters. Do you guys have any wacky tests for May?

I keep swapping writing styles based on how I'm feeling on a particular day...and I wrote this chapter bit by bit. ^^" That's why it's a little weird sometimes. Hope you didn't notice it!

Well, since now I'm randomly updating from time to time, vote on my poll! I don't know if I should update on fixed dates or continue updating randomly! You guys choose!

Um, before I forget, A is not Ash. Seriously. He's just an evil guy with an awesome codename which will be revealed later XD

Don't worry, May didn't die! She just got hurt very, very, badly. And in the next chapter:

May learns how the food at the cafeteria tastes like!

M teaches May skills she needs to be an assassin!

And some more stuff I'm not telling you! XD

~KurunaGirl


	4. The Unhelpful Introductions

Don't worry, I'm not dead! I'm trying my best to update as quickly as possible, and I know updates are very slow now, but I'm failing Math...

Why am I ranting about myself right now? Let's go and read Chapter Four! :D

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><p>Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon<p>

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><p><span>How I Became An Assassin<span>

The Unhelpful Introductions

**"...there was no point arguing with them..."**

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><p><em>"How is she?"<em>

_"Patched up her arm and her leg, but she's out right now. What happened to her?"_

_"Novice test."_

_"Ah…"_

May opened her eyes blearily. She was in a long room with multiple cots. Only hers was occupied.

Just as she sat up, a hard-faced nurse appeared from a doorway.

"Oh, Sleeping Beauty, finally up, are you?" she tutted. "You take too long; most novices wake up in time for dinner."

May winced when she moved her arm. "What time is it now?"

The nurse checked the clipboard the the end of May's cot.

"Your mentor brought you here at around 5 yesterday," she read, "And it's five thirty am now. You should make it in time for breakfast if you hurry."

"What time is breakfast?" May asked.

"Six on the dot," the nurse replied. She bustled off into another doorway and emerged holding a bowl of some medicine. "Drink this and you're ready to go."

May took a sip and made a face. "What's in this?" she asked, grimacing as she tried taking another sip.

"It's an energy drink, and I have no idea what's in it," the nurse answered distractedly. She pulled a phone from her pocket and pressed a button. "Hello sir," she said into the phone. "You can pick her up now."

'_You __can __pick __her __up __now,__' _May thought bitterly to herself as she took a large gulp of the medicine. _'__I__'__m __like __a __package __or __something,__waiting __to __be __delivered __to __an __evil __owner.__'_

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><p>M appeared from one of the numerous doorways, his hair slightly wet.<p>

"Gone for an early swim?" the nurse said, looking respectfully at him.

"Yea," he answered. He glanced at May. "Anything major?"

The nurse checked the clipboard again, though she had memorized everything on it already. Not many trainees ever got hurt badly. "Nope, though her ankle's badly sprained and her bones have a few hairline fractures. Her arm's bruised, but it will be fine in a few days. Nothing too major."

M nodded briefly while May looked shocked. "Nothing too major? You-" she started furiously, but a look from M silenced her.

"Let's go, we'll be late for breakfast if you don't hurry," M said to May. He waited as May drank the rest of her medicine, and painfully got up from the cot. She stood there, wincing as pain shot from her ankle and leg until the nurse finally handed her a 'crutch'. Which was basically a metal stick plus a handle on top.

"You'll face worse injuries when you're on missions, so having any support at all is a luxury," the nurse warned May. "Don't expect anything of this sort next time you get hurt."

May nodded briefly and hobbled after M, who had already began walking down a corridor. He didn't slow down, and May had to hobble as quickly as possible after him while trying to figure out how to use the crutch properly. Finally, she discovered that the crutch was useless and tossed it into one of the janitor's closets she saw on the way.

"C-can," she panted. "you _please_ slow down?"

M stopped and looked at May with amusement. "Certainly," he replied. "I'd have slowed down, but you didn't ask."

May gritted her teeth and continued hobbling after M_.__ '__He__'__s __too __infuriating!__'_ she thought to herself. _'__Though __he __doesn__'__t __hurt __me __if __I __do __something __wrong, __I __expected __lashes __of __whips __or __something __from __these people.__'_

M finally stopped at a doorway and waited for May to catch up. She had no idea where they were; they had passed by too many unmarked doorways and corridors.

"This is the cafeteria," he told May. "Later, you're in charge of leading me here for lunch." May's mouth dropped open until M finally closed it, cupping her chin.

"Now," he breathed, leaning close to her ear, making May shiver, "don't make a fool of yourself and ruin my reputation or you'll regret it.'

May swallowed and jerked back. M was acting too strange right now. Just now, he was in his evil-assassin-mentor mode and now he was acting all suave and stuff? Creepy.

May didn't have any time to ponder about the strangeness of her mentor as M opened the door to the cafeteria. There were four long tables: one was filled with an assortment of people of different nationalities, the second was filled with professional-looking people, the third was filled with tech people and the last and the longest table was stuffed to the brim with people wearing the same outfits as May and M.

M placed his hands on May's shoulders and gently steered her towards the fourth table.

"This is the table for mentors and their students," he said. "I used to sit at the second table, but since I have an unusual job of mentoring an idiot, I will have to sit here. I blame this all on you, and please take this personally."

May turned around and frowned at him. "Now don't frown at me," he said, smiling at May in an unnerving way. "I told you not to make a fool of yourself. Look forward!" His grip tightened on her shoulders and May was forced to move forward again. They finally stopped at two unoccupied seats. M slid into one seat and May sat in another, plainly wondering how to act normal here.

A middle-aged woman with a young man sat opposite to them. She grinned at M. "Well, I never expected to see you here!" she said, smirking at him. "I thought older people have to be mentors instead!"

"Shut up," he scoffed. "I never wanted to be mentoring her over here," he said, jerking a thumb in May's direction. The woman's eyes widened in surprise.

"Why, she's even younger than you!" she said, "Did they need a girl for a mission?"

"Apparently, yes." M answered. "They need her in one year."

The woman cackled, unnerving only May. The other two males sat there, unaffected. "Well, are you going to practise your weapon on her this year?" she asked, eyes glittering. "Let's see if your charms have depleted yet."

M rolled his eyes. "Yeah, whatever," he said, "I'll take up your challenge anyway." The two shook hands while May and the other novice looked at each other blankly.

"Hi," she said nervously. The other novice nodded curtly at her. He looked at least five years older than M, and seven years older than her.

"I see that you're new here," he said. "Unlike you, I wanted to be an assassin, so I don't want to listen to your sappy stories, okay?"

May looked hurt. "I wasn't going to do anything of that sort, but okay," she said. The woman looked sympathetically at May.

"Don't worry, he's always like this, and you'll get the hang of this place soon," she said. "I assume that your mentor gave you the tour of this place?" May looked blankly at the woman. The woman sighed and addressed the two males.

"Excuse me, we girls/ladies need to talk," she said. They didn't react.

"Alone?" she hinted. M stood up. "I'll see what breakfast is today," he muttered. The woman's novice followed suit.

May smiled a little at the woman, remembering M's warning. "What did you want to talk about?" she ventured. The woman laughed.

"Well, I was the mentor of your mentor," she said. May's eyes widened. "Call me Sheryl, by the way," the woman said.

"Okay, Sheryl, can you tell me more about my mentor, please?" May asked.

"Well, M stands for mentor, duh, but every assassin's codename is different." Sheryl explained. "My codename is UAM, which means Ultra Advanced Mentor. All my students will end up at the second table over there, where all the top assassins sit for meals."

"How about the other tables?" May asked. Sheryl sighed.

"M will tell you that later, I didn't want to talk to you about the structure of our arena," she grumbed. "I wanted to warn you about M."

"Warn me about him?" May asked blankly. Sheryl nodded thoughtfully.

"He's our youngest assassin, and by far the best one we've ever seen," she said. "Of course, you're younger than him, but you're barely a novice. He's a supreme killing machine.

"He can hack information from even the most careful of businesses. He can learn all the secrets of the target he's focused on, male or female. He kills in cold blood. But that's not all. As you've seen, he's pretty good-looking, and most ordinary teenage girls drool over him. That way, he can use the girl and purge her of any secrets she knows about her family."

"Wow," May said softly. "Anything else?"

Sheryl nodded. "When I was mentoring him, he never complained once. I never knew why he wanted to become an assassin. He prefers not to tell. He never even got hurt in any of the training programs, even the wild animals one. The lowest mark he ever got was A+. He's also the most collected assassin I've ever seen. I admit that I hesitated when I first had to kill innocent people, especially once when I had to kill an adorable two-year-old, but M never hesitates. He'll kill anyone, everyone, without emotion. I think he killed his family members before. Anyway, all assassin corporations want him, but for some reason he'll only work for us. Don't ask me why."

May had been listening silently throughout the speech, but now she started to shiver. "Why do I have such a cold mentor?" she asked. "Can't I just have a usual one?"

"Well, no." Sheryl answered. "You're needed for a specific mission and M is the best one for mentoring the job. Oh yeah, his name's Drew, by the way. Don't tell him that you know his name."

"Drew…" May tried out the word. I seemed fitting for him, though it was the past tense of draw. Maybe Drew was short of Andrew.

Sheryl's eyes flitted to the side. "The boys are coming back," she said. "Act normal."

May had just assumed a slightly interested face when Drew and Sheryl's novice came back.

"Why do girls have to talk so much?" Drew said, exasperated. "We can only to pretend to read the menu so many times!"

May noted that novices hardly spoke and kept silent. Right on cue, Sheryl growled at Drew.

"For your information, we like talking, and don't talk to your former mentor like that!" she snapped. Drew smirked in response.

"Right, _former_ mentor," he said. "Now don't tell me you filled my poor little student's mind with your crazy stories, right?"

Sheryl looked superiorly at Drew. "All the things I said to her are true," she smiled, "And by the way, girl talk always makes sense between girls and _not__boys_. So please stop mentioning the conversation and pretend it never happened."

Awkward silence ensued until a bell tinkled somewhere.

"Breakfast is here," Drew noted dryly to May. "I'm very interested in seeing what you'll eat today."

Sheryl looked fondly at her student. "And, you, young sir, I recall that you woke up late today for the third time running," she said. "Let's see how breakfast turns out for you." Sheryl's student snorted in response.

May was envisioning a few pieces of dry bread plus mouldy cheese as a side dish when a person wearing a mask, gloves and a long apron placed a dish and a bowl in front of Drew. Drew's dish contained a few slices of turkey drizzled with a bit of sauce, two eggs scrambled to perfection, a small tomato salad and a piece of buttered toast. His bowl was filled with muesli, and who knew muesli could look so appetizing? A large glass of milk finished the meal set in front of Drew.

May was just finished gaping at Drew's meal when Sheryl's breakfast arrived. Sheryl's was a bit plainer, but suited for older woman. The things she had were the same, but in smaller portions and she had orange juice instead of milk.

"My favourite!" Sheryl exclaimed, spearing the eggs with her fork. May and the other student waited quietly until all the other mentors at their table had been served. Then, at long last, breakfast began arriving for the students. Sheryl's student had ham, egg and toast with apple juice. Sheryl laughed while her student just ate his breakfast indifferently.

May waited and waited, knowing that Drew was smirking at her while eating his own meal. The number of people coming out to serve them was turning fewer and fewer, and Drew finally said,

"I knew that you would have nothing to eat."

It stung a lot, and May was about to sniffle when a hush fell in the whole cafeteria. A smiled as he walked past the first three tables in calm, measured steps, making all the assassins respectfully stop eating and look expectantly at him. He stopped at the fourth table, and walked slowly past assassin after assassin until he reached May. She could feel coldness radiating from him and unconsciously moved a little closer to Drew. A frown flitted across Drew's face, then disappeared.

"Well, well, well," A said, his cold gaze boring into May's frightened blue eyes. "She's certainly lost her spark now, hasn't she, M?"

Drew looked stoically at A. "Yes," he replied stiffly. "Though that would be expected at the time being."

A laughed, his malicious laughter echoing through the silent cafeteria until a few more assassins started laughing along with him. "You have a month," he said to Drew before leaving.

"Who was that?" May whispered to Drew after A had disappeared off to his private quarters to eat.

"The boss of this corporation," Drew answered, his eyes never leaving his meal. He quickly finished his meal in small, neat bites, pulled May to her feet, nodded briefly at Sheryl then propelled May past all the tables and out the door of the cafeteria. May winced as Drew kept her walking at a fast pace.

"Umm, why do we have to leave so quickly?" May asked as Drew led her past corridor after corridor. She would never make it back to the cafeteria for lunch at the rate they were going.

Drew stayed silent until they reached a huge, locked steel door. "This is the main entrance," he said to a perplexed May.

"Why would I need to know that?" she asked. "You won't let me escape or anything."

He shook his head and sighed. "Sheryl told you that all new assassins at this place would have an introduction and a tour, right?" he said slowly. "So, I'm going to start the introduction and the tour from the entrance of this training arena."

"Oh, okay," May responded, and wanted to say something else, but decided against it. "So...can I ask a few questions about this 'training arena' first?"

"Sure," he nodded, indicating her to go on.

"Hmm, how big is this place?" she ventured. Drew didn't answer her immediately; instead he just started walking down the long corridor they had just walked down.

"This is the main corridor of this training arena," he started, "And technically, it should go all the way from the entrance to the far end of this arena. Unfortunately, this arena isn't in a round shape, and there are booby traps riddled throughout the place. If you just walk down the main walkway, you'd be hit by flamethrowers twenty meters ahead of us. The arena is always expanding, so I can't really say the accurate size of this place."

"This whole place is booby trapped?" May asked quizzically. "Is that why you had to keep walking in circles to get to the cafeteria?"

"Yes," Drew responded. They were still walking down the main walkway. Suddenly, he stopped, and roughly grabbed May by the shoulders to stop her from taking another step ahead.

"What are you doing?" she grumbled, shaking his hands off her shoulders. Drew rolled his eyes.

"I could use the training of dodging fireballs," he said smugly, "but you'd be burnt to a crisp and I'd either have to bury you somewhere or send you all the way back to the hospital ward, which I really don't want to do. Dragging you there one time is more than enough. So, can you see the warning that warns you when there's a booby trap nearby?"

May distractedly squinted at the corridor, wondering how Drew had dragged her to the hospital ward. Did someone wheel a stretcher out from the wall, or did he carry her all the way?

'_Focus, __May, __focus!__'_ she reprimanded herself. '_Even __though __I __really __don__'__t __want __to __be __here,__I __don__'__t __want __to __die __by __starvation!__' _

No matter how hard she looked, there was no difference from the 'booby-trapped' area to the place that she was standing on now. "Umm," she said, stalling. "Care to give me a hint or something?"

Drew frowned. "Well, if you bothered to look, you'd see that the texture of the floor is different, and the tiles show what traps are rigged."

May looked at the floor. It was made of white marble or concrete or some weird man-made material, but the 'booby-trapped' area wasn't any different.

"Is the mark over there?" she asked, pointing at nothing in particular. Drew nodded slightly without looking at her.

"The mark is whatever you think it is," he said distractedly. "I'll let you have a treasure hunt later and you have to reach all the correct destinations without killing yourself in the process."

May looked petrified, but Drew just leisurely backtracked until he stood in front of a wall lamp. It was securely attached to the wall, looking completely ordinary, and as May walked over to Drew, he fiddled with something he pulled out from his sleeve.

"This inconspicuous wall lamp holds the lever to the corridors leading to the comprehensive training areas," he informed, "so find the hidden switch." He continued fiddling with whatever he was holding while May tried all sorts of ways to find the hidden lever.

She tried pulling and pushing the lamp, but it was securely fastened to the wall, so it didn't budge. Her slender fingers desperately tried to find a hidden button or catch, but there was nothing of that sort on it.

May stood there, contemplating about what to do next when she felt something cold against her neck and she immediately put her hand to her throat.

It was a necklace; a small gold-coloured medallion hanging on a silver chain.

Drew finished fastening the clasp and smirked at her. "Well, I couldn't really tell you anything without you being an official novice, right?" he said, smiling eerily at her. "You won't be able to take off this necklace, even if you sleep, as the silver chain is indestructible. The medallion tracks your position, and it can also send out low-voltage shocks, which I will use if you disobey me. Being shocked around the neck hurts, I can tell you that. So, from now on, you can _not_ slack off, be rude to me, or act wimpy, and instead you should follow my orders like a meek puppy." He had a superior and no-nonsense air as he said that, and a strange glint in his eye as he finished.

May gulped and started hunting feverishly for the hidden switch in the wall lamp again.

'_I __guess __that __I__'__m __officially __a __novice __now.__'_

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><p>I think that it's a lame ending for this chapter, how about you? I didn't know how to end it, so...any suggestions?<p>

This is a filler chapter...so yeah. Anyone noticed that I dumped the name 'M'? While I was typing this chapter, I kept typing 'Drew', then I had to erase it and type 'M' back. It got too annoying, so I just called him Drew. XD Drew's going to act more business-like in the next chapter(s), until he starts warming up to May. *smiles evilly and rubs hands together*

It's funny how we all want authors to update faster, but fail to update our own stories. Heh heh... *runs away from angry readers*

I'm going to update a Halloween themed one-shot...if I can get it up on time. It's a birthday fic for AdorableMe! :)

Please review! I love reading the comments that you have! Even if I forget to reply to your reviews, I read every single one. Promise!

Oh, and if you really want to know when the next chapter will be up, it's best to put this on Story Alert. NO, I'm not forcing you to do that, but I really don't know when I have enough time to write the next chapter, so most of my updates will be at random times unless I suddenly have no tests and quizzes!


	5. Let The Training Begin

It's been three years since I've updated! How's life been for you guys? I started writing this when assassin fanfictions were at their peak in the CS fandom, but I'm not sure what's trending right now. Anyways, I've decided to continue on with my story! I hope you'll like it!

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><p>Disclaimer: Actually, why do we even bother with disclaimers when the title of the site has 'fanfiction' in it?<p>

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><p><span>How I Became An Assassin<span>

Let The Training Begin

**"…left with no other choice, I began my training; but…"**

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><p>"Thud…thud…thud…"<p>

These dull thudding sounds echoed down the deserted walkway with a slow rhythm. Drew, slightly amused at first, grew impatient as this continued on for half a minute.

"It's obvious that hitting the lamp isn't the key to opening the hidden entrance," he said, a hint of exasperation creeping into his voice. "We don't have all day here."

May gritted her teeth and fought down the urge to snap back. The silver chain of the necklace was surprisingly cold against her neck, reminding her that Drew could shock her with the medallion dangling at her collar at any given minute. Actually, he could just stab her with his dagger, but May preferred to keep that sickly knife out of her mind.

'_I've done everything possible,'_ she thought bitterly. _'In movies, doesn't the hero usually twist the lamp like a doorknob to open up the secret passage? But this lamp doesn't move at all!'_

Her short patience reaching its limit, May impulsively reached for the lightbulb and began unscrewing it, taking no heed of the fact that she might be electrocuted.

"Whoa!" she yelped as a panel in the wall a few meters ahead slid smoothly away, revealing a narrow flight of stairs hidden behind it.

Drew allowed himself a small smirk. "As you can see, us assassins at SLY are trained to think outside the box," he said dryly. "Things depicted in movies, and even techniques taught at other assassin corporations don't apply here. I didn't actually expect you to- _where do you think you're going?"_

May was heading down the walkway towards the hidden stairway, but surprised my Drew's sudden steely tone, she paused in mid-stride. Balancing her weight on her good ankle, she turned to look cautiously at him.

"Uh…" she said, clutching her medallion nervously. "Walking towards the entrance to the training areas?"

Drew sighed. "Thanks for stating the obvious, _novice_," he said, barely resisting the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose. "But did you forget the trap that sets off the fireballs…three steps ahead of you?"

May visibly paled and backtracked until she was next to Drew. "So…" she said, her voice trailing off. "How are we supposed to disengage that fireball trap?"

He smirked in reply. "You're holding the answer to that question," was his ambiguous answer.

She looked confusedly at her hands. Her right hand was still clutching the lightbulb she had unscrewed.

'What should I go with this?' she thought blankly. 'Place it back?'

Warily May screwed the lightbulb back into place. It flickered back to life. Nothing else happened. No fireballs appeared, much to May's relief, however there was no indication that the fireball trap was now switched off. May looked helplessly at her mentor, but Drew remained silent, a strange intensity in his gaze as he met her eyes.

Turning away from his uncomfortable gaze, May slowly walked towards the trigger for the fireball trap, searching for the inconspicuous white tiles which Drew had pointed out to her. Apparently they would set off this booby trap and according to her _expert_ mentor, the texture of those tiles was different.

Her blue eyes scanned the tiles until the white floor blurred beneath her eyes. She stamped her foot in frustration. "Gah!" May snapped, her fingers raking her hair in frustration. "All the tiles look exactly the same!"

She turned back to Drew once again, but he had unsheathed his dagger and was nonchalantly polishing it with a cloth, steadily refusing to return her gaze. She shuddered slightly as the wicked tip of the dagger glinted, reflecting the light from the wall lamps placed at intervals along the hallway.

She forced her mind to focus on the tiles one more, however Drew's dagger still unnerved her slightly. Eventually, she realized that all the tiles in frent of her were actually different from the tiles under her feet. It was true that all of the the floor tiles were as glossy as marble, however those in front seemed different for some reason.

'It's almost like those tikes are made of the plastic material used for light switches on the wall!' she thought triumphantly. 'Does this mean that the floor ahead is like a big switch?'

Her excitement quickly faded, though. She still had no idea whatsoever about switching off the fireball trap. Her mind wandered back to Drew's dagger, its long blade glinting horribly in the light…

'No! Stop thinking about it!' she mentally chided herself. But May's brain had a mind of its own. She pictured Drew advancing towards her, his dagger gleaming as brightly as the wall lamps fixed to the wall…

"Wall lamps…that's it!" she exclaimed, quickly turning on her heel and walking back as fast as her bad ankle would allow to the wall lamp where she had unscrewed and replaced the lightbulb. Drew stopped polishing his dagger and starting quietly regarding her out of the corner of his eye, a strange glow again appearing in his emerald eyes.

May unscrewed the lightbulb once more, the light going out with a small 'bzzt!' as the circuit was broken. She made her way back towards the white tiles, and on the mental count to three, she stepped on them, feeling the floor move slightly with a small 'click'.

No fireballs rained from the ceiling. The trap was truly switched off.

"I did it!" May said happily, letting out a radiant smile as Drew slowly walked towards her, a small smirk playing at the corner of his lips.

His smirk widened at her enthusiasm. "Indeed you did," he replied, humouring her. "I wasn't expecting you to figure it out by yourself at first, but you did in the end." He tilted his head slightly to the side as he regarded her, the same strange glow in his eyes. "It seems that I've misjudged you somewhat after that test fiasco. You might actually be able to finish this training."

* * *

><p>"Who would have thought that the booby trap and wall lamp were connected to the same circuit?" May said, bouncing down the stairs in excitement. She winced as the pain from her bad ankle shot up her leg.<p>

"That's called 'thinking outside the box'," Drew replied in an infinitely calmer tone. "I guess you've been paying attention in science class to be able to figure that trap out."

"By the way, what will happen to that wall lamp with the lightbulb I took out?" May asked curiously as they rounded a flight of stairs. She had handed the lightbulb to Drew, and he had placed it in a metal chute near the hidden entrance to the training area. After he placed the lightbulb there, the wall panel slid back into place, concealing the location of the entrance once more.

Drew shrugged in reply. "Someone will replace it," he said offhandedly. "It doesn't really matter to us assassins."

They rounded the last flight of stairs and reached a long hallway. It was brightly lit and slightly narrower than the main walkway they had just left. Numerous doors lined the walls, each prominently engraved with a Roman numeral.

Drew walked up to a door engraved with 'IV'. "Open it," he ordered May.

May walked over to him and tried twisting the doorknob. It didn't turn, just as she expected. She twisted it in the opposite direction and was mildly surprised when a red light started flashing near the door.

"Is that something I should be afraid of?" she asked, eyeing the light suspiciously.

Drew shook his head in reply. "Nah, it's just that security is now notified that someone's trying to open this door. They know we're authorized, so it's okay. Just open the door," he said, his tone becoming slightly impatient. "How difficult can the task of opening a door be, you moron?"

May looked up in surprise at his sudden arrogant tone, eyebrows raised. Drew cleared his throat awkwardly, before his features quickly settled down into his stern mask.

"As I was saying, just open the door," he said gruffly. Still a bit weirded out by her mentor's sudden attitude change, May nodded slowly and turned back to the task at hand. Truthfully, she was getting tired of all this nonsense. Why make all these complicated procedures to do such simple tasks? Sick of all those 'secret techniques' probably required to open a stupid door, she pushed on the door with all her might out of sheer frustration.

The door swung smoothly inward, causing May to topple forward in surprise. She fell heavily to the ground with a small yelp.

"Nice," Drew commented, stepping over May as if it was the most normal thing in the world. "All doors in the training area will open if you simply push the door. If you twist the doorknob though, the doors become locked."

Still sprawled on the ground, her breath knocked out of her, May looked up reproachfully and asked, "Can't we just do things the normal way?"

"Not at SLY," Drew called over his shoulder, smirking. "Anyways, it's time to get to work. Taking your ankle in consideration, we'll start with dumbbell training first. You were a complete wreck when it came to that preliminary test."

May laboriously hoisted herself upright and grudgingly made her way after Drew. This training room in questions was not too big. Exercise machines and dumbbells lined the walls. It was just an ordinary gym.

"Something remotely normal at last," May said with a contented sigh as she glanced around the room.

Drew shot her a look and took out a long list of exercises she had to complete for the day. Her relieved face was quickly replaced with a horrified one as she read the first few items on the agenda:

"_Why is the first entry about doing 200 push-ups?!"_

* * *

><p>"You did worse than I thought," Drew commented idly as they returned to the maze of hallways after finishing May's training.<p>

May was too exhausted to reply. Exercise was never her forte, and while she wasn't a couch potato, she wasn't a sports freak like Misty, either. "I'm sorry, but most girls aren't into muscle training," she muttered sarcastically under her breath, her tired voice barely audible over the tapping of their shoes.

"Then get used to it," Drew said with a slight sneer. Seeing May's raised eyebrows yet again, he promptly reverted back to his mentor mode, his eyes again radiating a no-nonsense aura.

"By the way, what time is it?" May asked, groaning as her leg muscles strained to catch up to Drew's quick and surefooted steps.

"Four-thirty, perhaps?" he replied as they rounded yet another corner. "We look too long to finally reach the training area, so it was inevitable that we'd miss lunch at the cafeteria."

"It's only afternoon?" May grumbled, undoing her hair tie. Her shoulder-length hair fell down in untidy waves, and she began combing her fingers through her brown locks distractedly. "But I'm positive that we spent _ages_ in there-"

She let out a small shriek, forgetting about her messy hair as the medallion stung sharply against her collarbone with a 'bzzt!' sound.

"I said you weren't allowed to talk back, right?" Drew said, smiling amusedly at her. "Well, at least you know I'm not joking about shocking you with that necklace," he added over his shoulder as they reached a pair of sliding doors. They slid smoothly open at his touch.

"This is my sleeping quarter," he said matter-of-factly. "Novices have their rooms connected to their mentor's."

The room beyond the doors was surprisingly ordinary. A few couches surrounded a television set, a polished dining table was tastefully decorated with a vase of red roses and there was a small open kitchen in the corner. A door was slightly ajar, leading to what May presumed to be a bedroom.

"Your room is over there," Drew said, gesturing to a closed door which May hadn't noticed. "I've never mentored a novice before, so it's unused."

May made her way over to the door he had indicated and slowly opened it. Inside was a small room with a single bed, a bare shelf, a desk, a chair and a dustbin. That was all. Another door led to a small bathroom. There were no windows, and with a small start, May realized that Drew's room had no windows, either.

"Not too fancy," he said, his emerald gaze sweeping across the pitiful contents of the room. "You'll get a nicer room when you rise through the ranks." He turned around and settled himself comfortably on a couch, while May remained in the doorway, staring oddly at him.

"…What is it?" Drew finally asked when she didn't move.

"What am I supposed to do now?" she asked blankly, still weirded out by the fact that he was actually _leaning_ on the couch cushions. She expected him to sit as straight as a board on that couch, just like a Victorian painting or something.

He raised a brow. "Well, you could sit here, for starters," he said, waving a hand towards one of the other couches. "We have some protocol to go through."

He spent the next two hours drilling her through an ominously thick rulebook, stuffing her poor mind with timetables and regulations and strict punishments.

"…And we're done," Drew said, relief visible on his face. "I always thought that there were too many rules. It'll get better after you memorize them-that is, if your skull is large enough to hold all that information, anyway." He tossed the rulebook aside and stretched his arms.

"Shall we eat dinner now?" he asked. "I know it's still a bit early, but we missed lunch."

"Sure." May replied, though all she wanted was to take a shower and collapse into bed. Drew's amiability creeped her out as well. It was almost like he detached himself from his mentor position and started kind of acting like the teenager he was supposed to be.

'_Maybe he feels more relaxed in his room?'_ she wondered. _'Well, him being uptight was pretty annoying as well. He should only be around seventeen, right?'_

She was snapped out of her thoughts as Drew handed her a menu. "Dinner at this training arena is something like room service at hotels, because us assassins eat dinner at different times, and some skip the meal entirely," he informed her whilst she pored curiously over the numerous names of dishes written in flowing script. "Of course," he continued, snatching the menu out of her hands, "Novices aren't allowed to choose their meals from this menu, and as for you, you'll be lucky if you have any dinner at all."

He smirked as she shot him a nasty look. "Would you like to experience another shock from your medallion?" he asked tauntingly. May grudgingly dropped her hostile look and resentfully held her tongue as Drew chuckled at her expression.

There was a slight knock at the door ten minutes after Drew had typed something in a touchscreen fixed to the wall.

"Our dinner's here," he said, twirling a rose he had plucked from the vase on the dining table. "Care to get it for me?"

"I'm your novice, not your maid," May grumbled, before another shock from the medallion got her on her feet. The doors slid open as she neared them, and right outside the door was a small serving trolley with two trays placed on it. She wheeled it inside the room, noting the food on the two trays were vastly different. Nonetheless, she was glad that she had something to eat.

Silence permeated the room as they ate their respective dinners at the dining table. Drew placed the rose neatly aside and then proceeded to eat his dinner with table manners suitable for a formal business meeting, causing May to snicker quietly at him.

Unfortunately, May choked a bit in mid-snicker, causing Drew to raise a brow. "What is it?" he asked coolly, slicing his fish neatly at the same time.

"Nothing much," May replied, trying not to laugh anymore lest she choke on her food again. "Can't you eat normally?"

"You're the one who's eating like a madman," he answered, eyeing her with disdain as she chased peas around her plate with her fork. "You're supposed to _scoop the peas up_, not push them around the plate like a kid."

"It doesn't really matter right? I'm still going to eat them eventually."

"I guess it doesn't, because apparently you have the mind of a seven-year-old."

"…Hey! I'm going to flick peas at you if you keep talking like that!"

"I think my point is proven."

* * *

><p>After they'd finished their dinner, May cleaned the plates and wheeled the serving trolley back into the hallway. <em>'Treating me like a maid,'<em> she thought yet again, still slightly annoyed at her (actually really simple) task.

As she re-entered the room, the doors smoothly sliding shut behind her, she noted that Drew was pulling on a jacket.

"I'll be out for some training," he said, casually sliding a second dagger into his belt. "I couldn't get anything done today in case you accidentally killed yourself lifting dumbbells or something."

May picked up one of the couch cushions and threw it at him, but he blocked it easily, tossing it back to her as he stepped into a pair of hiking boots.

"While I'm away, you're not allowed to leave your room," Drew continued, lacing his boots deftly as he talked. "I'll lock the door and unlock it tomorrow at five. Breakfast is at six, so I expect you to be ready at five forty-five or earlier. You were supposed to guide me to the cafeteria for lunch today, but seeing as we missed it, you can take me there tomorrow. I think there's over twenty traps that can get you killed if you mess up the right path to take."

May gaped as him as he reeled on. "Anyways, you're a freshman, right? Even though you're training as an assassin, you're still expected to keep up with your academics. I've placed all the textbooks you require this year and the rulebook in your room just now. I'll give you a quiz every week. Let's make the first quiz on linear equations and the first quarter of the rulebook."

Finally, Drew picked up a small backpack and turned to grin at May's expression, her mind overloaded with all the information he was telling her. "Well, if this is any incentive to make you study…" he said, taking out a small envelope from his pocket and tossing it at her. She caught it clumsily and started opening it, but Drew shooed her into her room before she had the chance to.

"I have to go now, so be a hardworking student, novice," he said, smirking. "See you tomorrow morning." Drew turned to leave, but he halted abruptly and gently placed a rose on her table before walking out the door. He shut the door behind him and May heard him turn the lock with a definite 'click'.

Left to her own devices in her room, May sank into a chair and opened the envelope. She slowly slid out the contents and her heart sank as she realized that it was a polaroid of her family, their clothes gaunt and their expressions ragged.

'_So they're planning to blackmail me, huh,"_ she thought, holding back her tears as she looked at the face of her younger brother Max, his usual teasing eyes dull will despair. Abruptly she shoved the photograph back into the envelope and did a once-over in her room, but found nothing special. She picked up the rose for a moment, twirling between her fingers as she looked over it curiously, but there was nothing special about it.

'_I don't think I'll waste any of my brain cells over why he gave me a rose,' _May thought, sighing as she placed the rose back down. _'More importantly, t__here aren't any windows here or in the room outside. __I was planning to play along until I could find a way to escape, but it seems more difficult than I thought…'_

Just in case, she tested the door to see if it was really locked. It was, and May wasn't in the mood to have a test of strength with the door by whacking it with the chair. She was tired enough with all the training she had done today, anyways.

"I guess I'll take a shower first," she said, yawning as she headed over to the small bathroom. There was a change of clothes folded neatly next to the sink and a small hamper placed on the ground, so May assumed that someone would come every day and do the laundry for her.

"There seems to be a lot of people working behind the scenes," she muttered. "Someone to replace that lightbulb for the wall lamp, someone to deliver dinner to our door, and someone to do the laundry…"

May took a long shower, sighing as the warm water relieved her aching joints. She quickly got dressed in her new set of clothes, noting that it was exactly the same as her old one.

"Let's get started on these books!" she said encouragingly to herself as she plopped herself back down onto the chair. Drew had neatly arranged the textbooks by subject on her shelf, and placed the rulebook on her desk. May eyed the black hardcover book resentfully. Numerous lines and small symbols drawn in silver pen were used to form the insignia 'SLY' on the cover.

"Such an detailed design for the cover of a boring book," May scoffed as she flipped to the table of contents, hoping to find a page about getting to the cafeteria without getting killed in the process. An idea suddenly came to her as she flipped back to the cover of the rulebook. She pored over the numerous symbols until she found out what she was looking for: a knife and a fork enclosed in a small circle.

A smile appeared on her face as she realized that the path to the cafeteria was right before her eyes: the silver lines on the cover weren't just used to form the words 'SLY'; they also formed a map of this training arena.

* * *

><p>How was this chapter? I can see that my writing style's different from the previous chapters, but I <em>did<em> mature these three years and stuff.

I hoped that you guys understood why May could switch off the fireball trap. Um...there are two types of electrical circuits; series circuits and parallel circuits. The lightbulb and the trigger for the trap were connected in a series circuit, meaning that the electricity ran in a single loop. By removing the lightbulb from the wall lamp, May effectively broke the loop in the circuit, so the trigger for the fireball trap had no electricity and the trigger didn't work!

I'd really appreciate it if you'd leave a review!


	6. Roses Mark Our Time Together

Hey everyone! Here's the next chapter! I'm in a quick-update mood right now~

* * *

><p><span>How I Became An Assassin<span>

Roses Mark Our Time Together

**"...I wasn't welcomed there..."**

* * *

><p>A small 'click' drew May out of her fitful sleep. She sat up, stretching her arms tiredly and yawned as Drew stepped into her room, buttoning up his shirt sleeve as he did so.<p>

"Good morning," he said cordially, his eyes bright and clear in contrast to May's bleary ones. "I unlocked the door at 5, just as I said I would. I'm off for a quick swim and I'll be back in half an hour."

"When I come back, be ready to guide me to the cafeteria," he called as he went out the front door.

May sighed at the impending doom of getting killed on the way to the cafeteria. Nonetheless, she started getting ready. Her muscles ached as she swung her legs out of bed, every muscle groaning in protest as she wobbled to the bathroom to get ready.

She was still exhausted from yesterday's training, and the studying she was forced to do at night only worsened it as she had less time to sleep.

Twenty minutes later she was ready, and she plopped down on one of the couches in the living room, the rulebook tucked under her arm. She was planning to go over the path to the cafeteria once more before they left; better safe than sorry if a wrong turn would send fireballs raining from the ceiling or something.

May had made note of all the traps marked in different corridors, and had painstakingly worked out a winding, twisted path to the cafeteria. Drew's sleeping quarters had been helpfully marked out on the map; without that May doubted she'd ever get to the cafeteria alive. She slowly traced out the correct path with her finger, burning it in her memory.

May looked up distractedly as the sliding doors opened. Drew entered, his chartreuse hair glossy and a towel carelessly thrown over his shoulder.

He didn't seem surprised at May figuring out the rulebook's trick. "Ready to go?" Drew asked, tossing the towel aside. May nodded and got to her feet.

"I'll lead us there without dying, Drew!" May said confidently.

Drew laughed as he turned to go. "We'll see…" he said as he moved towards the doors. Abruptly he spun on his heel and grabbed May by the shoulders.

"How did you know my name?" he hissed, his eyes narrowed. May shuddered slightly at the intensity in his gaze.

"Your former mentor Sheryl told me," she answered meekly. Drew sighed, muttered something along the lines of "That stupid woman" and went out the door without another word.

* * *

><p>'<em>After the fifth right turn, we go straight at the crossroads,'<em> May thought, frowning in concentration. _'Then it's two left turns…'_

Drew glanced at his young novice, her blue eyes narrowed as she tried to imagine the map in her mind. It was already their third day together, and as much as he didn't want to admit it, he was starting to think that there was hope for this novice.

'_She's pretty docile now, but it's even more suspicious this way,'_ he thought as he watched her bite her lip, looking confused at a fork in their path. _'She wanted nothing but to leave when she first arrived, and only calmed down somewhat because she learned that her family was in our custody. But to go from melting a door off its hinges to willingly obeying my commands, it's a bit-'_

"We're here!" May exclaimed triumphantly, snapping Drew out of his thoughts. Her grin widened as she indicated a familiar pair of doors to Drew.

"With no further ado, let's enter the battlefield, shall we?" he asked, stepping towards the doors.

"Battlefield?" May repeated stupidly as she followed after him. "We're just here to eat breakfast, right?"

"Hmm…I guess so," was Drew's ambiguous answer before the doors opened and they were once again met with the sight of the four tables. Just like yesterday, they made their way past the first three tables. The fourth table was nearly full, and after a bit of searching they finally located two unoccupied seats and slipped into them.

Across the table sat a grim-faced pair: the mentor middle-aged and stockily built and the novice lean and strong.

The mentor eyed Drew. "I never expected you to be here so soon," he jeered, leaning slightly towards them, his eyes taunting. May subconsciously began to lean away from him, but suddenly Drew's hand was on her back, stopping her from moving any further.

"Is there anything wrong with it?" Drew said smoothly in reply, withdrawing his hand casually from May as he spoke.

The man's gaze slid towards May. "It seems that your novice is afraid of me," he said slyly. "Is that how novices supposed to act?"

"It's only her third day," Drew said flatly. "As I was saying, is there anything wrong with being here?"

"Why, just last week you were still sitting at the second table with the other assassins!" the mentor continued, raising his voice ever so slightly in the process. "It doesn't seem like you've sustained any severe injuries and you're still young, so unless you were _personally_ demoted by A, there'd be no way you would suddenly have to take up the task of a mentor!"

Drew returned the man's gaze stolidly and remained silent.

Annoyed that Drew wasn't irked, the man hissed, "Weren't you know as the best assassin we had? If so, what are you even doing here?"

May noted that Drew's fist clenched briefly under the table, but he relaxed it in an instant. He continued his staring match with the other mentor, his opponent still throwing insults at his expressionless face. But May realized that other mentors were turning to look, some amused, some then turning to their neighbouring mentors to talk in low voices.

'_This situation is starting to get out of hand,'_ May thought, shooting a troubled glance at Drew as the tension at the table continued to grow. _'Why isn't he saying anything?'_

Drew's face remained impassive as the mentor threw insult after insult at him. When the man finally paused to take a breath, Drew cut in smoothly and said with an even voice:

"You know that SLY has taken up a particular job. You also know that we had no personnel suitable for that job. Seeing as how we have to train an assassin in such a short period of time, isn't it given that only a _qualified_ mentor would be able to fulfil this task properly?"

The fourth table had slowly grown quiet as Drew spoke. Having finished his short speech, Drew tilted his chin ever so slightly and stared challengingly at his opponent.

The man barely concealed his anger behind a smile. "Are you trying to imply that I'm not qualified?" he said, his tone dangerously low.

Drew's emerald eyes met his calmly, completely unfazed by the murderous glare. "As you said, I'm the best assassin we have," he said matter-of-factly. "Seeing as I wasn't mentored by you, it seems that your ability might actually have a limit."

There was a sudden flash of metal before May's eyes. Before she had even registered what was happening, Drew had pinned the man's arm on the table, viciously twisting a dagger out of his grip.

"Your left side has an opening," Drew said, calmly sliding the dagger back across the table. "Your dagger withdraw speed is passable, though."

"Are you giving advice to _me_?" the man spat, snatching the dagger back and sheathing it into his belt. "Don't forget that you have the lowest rank in us mentors!"

"It seems like this isn't the best place to have breakfast," Drew said, turning to May and completely ignoring the man. "Shall we have our breakfast in the training area?"

May nodded, still a bit bewildered by the turn of events. She quietly followed Drew to the doors and they stepped out of the cafeteria, the doors swinging shut behind them.

"So…erm…" May began hesitantly. Drew nodded at her to continue before continuing down the hallway.

"What the heck what all that about?!" she burst out, running to catch up with Drew's fast pace. "We just sat down and that man just started picking on you for no reason!"

Drew grimaced slightly. "Do you understand why I said the cafeteria is a battlefield?" he asked, and not waiting for a reply, he continued, "It's just a place for rivalry between mentors. The man just now holds the highest rank among all the mentors. No doubt he was annoyed that he didn't get the job to mentor you."

"To think that someone seems even more cold-blooded than you," May muttered under her breath.

"I heard that," Drew said, grinning. They rounded another corner until they reached the main entrance. "The only reason nothing happened yesterday was because we met my former mentor," he said as he yanked out the lightbulb to open up the path to the training area. "If we try to eat breakfast there again, the advanced mentors will probably bully you just like that man did."

"But he didn't actually bully me," May said as they descended down the stairs to the training arena. Drew let out a short laugh.

"That man was aiming to stab you, you know. Though I guess you didn't realize it," he said, smirking at her horrified face. "So I doubt that we'll eat there again until you can at least block a dagger on reflex."

"If you knew that the cafeteria is like that, then why did you even tell me to lead you to the cafeteria in the first place?" May grumbled, glaring at Drew. He pretended to think about it whilst he opened a door labelled "VI".

"It seemed interesting, I guess?" he said playfully as he stepped into the room. "Let's go over our itinerary before our breakfast arrives. On top of yesterday's exercises, I need you to start training your reflexes…"

"We have even more to do today?" May asked, shooting a reproachful look at Drew. She yelped as Drew lightly shocked her with the medallion in reply.

* * *

><p>The first two weeks flew by. May slowly got used to her hellish training during the day and studying at night. She passed all of Drew's quizzes, much to his surprise and amusement.<p>

"I didn't actually expect you to know a single answer for this," he said, raising a brow as he read over May's neat answers for his most recent quiz.

"I'll never lose to you!" May exclaimed suddenly, a determined look crossing over her face. Drew laughed at her resolution.

"You still have a long way to go before you catch up to me," he said, uncrossing his legs as he got up from the couch. "As usual, I'll be out for some night training. You know what to do, right?"

"Yup," May replied, looking a little sullen as she imagined all the studying she'd have to do tonight. She hesitated for a moment before she turned around to face Drew, who had shrugged on his jacket and was now pulling on his gloves.

"Actually, can I study in the living room today?" she asked, a bit too meekly. Drew turned to look at her, his eyes bright and alert.

"You're planning something strange," he said flatly, turning away from her to lace on his boots. "The answer is no, so don't try nagging me."

"Hmph, even though my room is too dark to study properly," May complained, sulking. She stomped back to her room and began to close the door, but Drew stopped her.

"There, there," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm as he patted her on her head. "It's not so bad, is it?"

May swatted his hand away, still sulking. "I'm not a cat," she grumbled, sitting in her chair and turning away from him. "Go away."

"See you tomorrow morning," Drew said calmly to May's back. Just like every night for these past two weeks, he placed a rose on her desk before leaving. He closed her door softly and locked it with a 'click'. May heard his footsteps slowly fading into the distance as he walked away to wherever he was going.

'_It seems like she's planning something,'_ Drew thought amusedly as he walked through the silent corridors of this arena. _'Did she think I'd lower my guard just because she's been so obedient for the past ten days?'_

Back in May's room, she was completely oblivious to the fact that Drew had caught on to her. "I thought my good-girl act would be able to trick him by now," she mused, opening a chemistry textbook as she spoke. "He's been nicer the past few days, too! I'm pretty sure there's a secret tunnel or something in that living room. I just need him to let me study outside this room for once…"

She finished reading a chapter in the textbook and placed it aside, her hand accidentally grazing the rose on her table as she did so. She picked up the rose, twirling it whilst she carefully observed it, just like how she had done for all the other roses Drew had given her these past nights.

She let out a long sigh as she finally placed the rose with others on her bookshelf. "I was sure there was a special meaning in these roses," she murmured as she stretched her arms tiredly. "But it almost seems like he's giving me these out of habit. Well, it's time to sleep."

* * *

><p>May woke up the next morning to the sound of thumping outside her room. She warily got up from her bed, her eyes flitting to the clock on her desk: it was only four-thirty, but May decided to get ready a bit early. Those noises unsettled her.<p>

Drew opened her door at exactly five sharp. "You're up early," he commented idly. "Take out your things and come out to the living room."

May placed all her things in a pile and carried them out into the living room. She looked surprised to see that a bunch of men were standing there, with random pieces of furniture also dotted throughout the living room.

"What's happening?" May said, thoroughly confused as they entered her room.

"Your room's being upgraded," Drew said, stepping towards the dining table where their breakfast trays were already placed. They had stopped eating in the cafeteria and now had all their meals in their room. "It'll probably take a week to finish."

"Huh? Why?" May asked, sitting down in her usual place for her breakfast. She fidgeted in her seat as she listened to them taking apart the furniture in her room.

"You're going to re-take your preliminary test tomorrow," Drew informed her, buttering a piece of toast nonchalantly as he said so. May was so surprised that she didn't realize he hadn't answered her question at all.

"Wait, you mean that horrifying test you gave me on the first day?" May asked, incredulous. "Do you want me to break my arm this time?"

"You've improved a lot in these past two weeks," Drew replied. "You should be okay this time around."

"But-" May protested, but stopped mid-sentence when Drew shocked her with the medallion.

"No 'buts'," Drew said, a stern edge appearing in his voice for the first time in days. "I'm not sure if you caught on to our conversation in the cafeteria that time, but we're on a tight schedule. If you're still not an official novice in a few days, we'll all be in trouble."

He continued eating his breakfast whilst May scowled at him. "Since this is the last day of training before you re-take the test, I planned something fun for you today," he said as he placed down his knife and his fork. "Remember the treasure hunt I told you about? How you'd have to go to a lot of checkpoints in the arena without killing yourself? Seeing as you should've memorised the map of the arena by now, why not try it today?"

"…Fine," May huffed, grumpily finishing her breakfast. "I'll be ready by six."

Drew nodded briefly before getting up and going out for his morning rounds. May had no idea what he was doing, but she had realized that he only went swimming every other day.

* * *

><p>"…And that's the eighth stamp," May said, wiping the sweat off her brow as she smoothed out her paper, which now had eight blanks filled out of ten. She noted the location of the next checkpoint on a wall plaque and groaned as she realized that it was at the other side of the arena.<p>

"I'm pretty sure they make the stamp stations as far away from each other as possible," May grumbled as she ended up at yet another dead end. "I've been running around in circles for the past four hours!"

"Someone's being unbelievably noisy," a man said, snickering as he stepped out from one of the many branching corridors. May's eyes widened briefly as she realized that it was the mentor who had taunted Drew in the cafeteria.

She brushed past him, remembering the rule that novices weren't supposed to associate with others without the accompaniment of their mentor. However, he caught her arm, holding it in a steely grip as she struggled to get away from him.

"Get off me!" May hissed as she tried to break his hold on her arm. The man grinned, viciously tightening his grip and causing May to gasp in pain.

"Such a useless novice," he said arrogantly. "It's been two weeks and you still haven't even gotten past the preliminary test!"

May glared at him as he continued to laugh at her. On a mental count of three, she kicked his shin and jabbed him in the stomach hard, sending him sprawling on the ground.

He looked at her with a touch of admiration. "You think fast," he commented, before his leg shot out, aiming to trip May. May easily dodged him.

"I _did_ manage to hit Drew with a book before," May said with a touch of pride before she continued on her way, leaving the man where he lay. She passed through another maze of corridors, leaping over a few traps in her way. May noted that some corridors weren't marked in the map on the rulebook, but she decided to worry over that another day. Drew had threatened her with the loss of lunch if she didn't finish the treasure hunt before noon, and the only thing that May hated the most was missing meals.

The ninth stamp station was near the main entrance of the arena. May disengaged the fireball trap and slipped into a narrow corridor, but stopped confusedly when she realized that it led to yet another dead end.

"I'm pretty sure this was the location marked on the plaque," May thought, frowning as she pictured the map in her mind. "It's almost like this is a trap or somethi-"

She shrieked as a net fell from the ceiling and pinned her down. She flailed around for a moment, her arms thrashing against the heavy ropes making up the net.

"Calm down, May!" she scolded herself, willing her arms to stop moving. "Think! This net isn't like a bag! There are weights weighing down the sides of the net, so if I lift one up I'll manage to get out of this mess!" She quickly located one of the weights and painstakingly lifted it up, then ducked under the net and got out of the net.

"I wonder where the stamp station is," she mused, pacing in a small circle next to the net. 'Its position was really marked here…" Her gaze shifted to the ceiling and she laughed as she realized that the stamp station was fixed to the ceiling! She jumped up to reach the stamp and stamped it on one of the two remaining blanks on her paper.

"Now there's only one stamp left," she said, smiling triumphantly as she eyed the remaining blank on her paper. "I can definitely make it on time! Lunch, here I come!"

The ever-so-helpful wall plaque next to the ninth stamp station informed her that the next location was…in Drew's sleeping quarters?! May shrugged and made her way to that familiar corridor. At least this meant that she could have lunch sooner.

"You're finally back," Drew said, looking up from a stack of documents and taking off his glasses as May entered the room. Thick binders were tossed around the couches on the room. "Was it fun?"

"I think I ran around the whole arena enough times for a month," May grumbled, handing Drew her piece of paper. Drew grinned, took a stamp out from under the table and stamped the tenth stamp on the remaining blank.

"You'll need your endurance for tomorrow's test, so this was just child's play," he said, handing May the paper and then slipping on his glasses again before returning to his documents. "You can keep the paper as a souvenir. There's still an hour before lunch, so you can do whatever you want during this time."

"I guess I'll take a shower," May said, stretching as she made her way towards her room. "The second station was submerged in a pool of mud for some reaso-hey, why is my room locked?!"

Drew looked up from his documents, scowling slightly as his reading was interrupted once more. "Your room's being upgraded, remember?" he said shortly. "Use my bathroom for now."

"…Your bathroom?" May said, her face revolted. Drew let out a long sigh as he slowly placed down his documents and gave her a glare, his glasses accentuating his slightly murderous look.

"I'd really prefer it if I wasn't disturbed right now," he said pointedly. "I'm nice enough to allow you free reign for an hour, so could you stop talking to me?" He sighed, grabbed a nearby binder and continued poring over it.

'_Is he on his period?'_ May thought jokingly to herself as she tiptoed over to Drew's room. She'd never been allowed in it before, and was slightly disappointed to find that it was as ordinary as the living room, albeit being many times larger than her own room. He had a small study at a corner of his room, and there were also binders and papers covering the whole desk. She picked up a document and started reading it, but was disappointed to find that it was a bank statement. In fact, all the papers on his desk were related to accounting and finances.

'_Is he bankrupt or something? Is that why he's so aggravated right now?'_ May thought, grinning at herself. Deciding not to mess around with his things anymore lest he kill her in his foul mood, she went over to his bathroom. His bathroom was infinitely larger than hers, and had a bathtub, a shower, and even a Jacuzzi for some reason.

May settled for a short shower and stepped back into Drew's room after fifteen minutes. She snorted as another vase of red roses caught her eye.

"His love for roses is a borderline freaky," she commented as she pulled one out of the vase.

"Having fun going through my things?" Drew called out, suddenly appearing in the doorway. May jumped like a frightened rabbit and accidentally dropped the rose in the process.

"Er, not really," she said, bending over to pick up the rose. She was somewhat relieved to see that Drew had calmed down a little. "I'll put it back now."

She slipped the rose back into the vase, an idea occurring to her at the same time.

"Hey, Drew, can I have a vase as well?" she asked as she turned around to face him. He raised a brow.

"Why would you want one out of the blue?" he asked, crossing his room and picking up a binder from his desk.

"Well, you always give me roses, but they die in a few days without water. If I could put them in a vase they'd probably last a bit longer," May replied.

"I'll think about it," Drew replied, flipping through the pages in the binder as he spoke. He went back to the living room, still flipping through the pages as he walked. May trailed after him, sat on an empty couch and watched as he continued sifting through the binder.

"Um…" May said hesitantly. "What are you doing? Can I help you or something?"

Drew looked up from his work, but he didn't seem as annoyed as before. "Finding discrepancies," he said, picking up another binder as he spoke. "Although the main job of assassins is to kill, our job usually requires us to obtain information before doing so. A rich influential family is now under our radar, and I'm trying to see when they started shifting their funds strangely. If you want to help, look for strange funds transferred from one country to another."

May picked up a nearby binder and started leafing through it. It was full of legal documents and phrases she didn't really understand, but her task was only to locate odd transactions, so she'd be okay. "I thought the only job of mentors is to train their novice," May commented as she flipped through the pages.

"You're correct," Drew said dryly. "This is actually _your_ job."

"My job?" May said, confused. "Why mine?"

Drew shut his binder and tossed it on a couch. "You're being trained for a specific mission," he informed her. "It's related to this family. I'd love it if you'd do all this paperwork, however you should just focus on your training for now. You'd never make it on time if you were in charge of this as well."

The rest of the hour passed by uneventfully with only the flipping of pages breaking the silence in the room. A small knock on the door disturbed the peace.

"Lunch is finally here!" May said happily as she put down the binder and went over to the door. She cheerfully placed the two trays on the dining table and sat down on her seat, impatiently waiting for Drew to make his way over as well. Drew looked up from his work, met May's expectant gaze and let out a laugh.

"Okay, okay, I'm having lunch now," he said as he took off his glasses. "Why does having lunch make you so excitable, anyways?"

"It's _food_!" May shot back as he took a seat opposite her. "Delicious stomach-filling food!"

'It's just food," he said flatly as he watched her gobble up her food with enthusiasm.

"By the way, Drew," May said, twirling spaghetti on her fork as she spoke, "Where am I going to sleep tonight, now that my room is out-of-use?"

"In my room," Drew replied calmly. "Isn't that given?"

May choked on her food. "_What?_" she spluttered as he continued eating his lunch indifferently.

* * *

><p>How was this chapter? I tried to subtly show character development, because Drew talks less like a drill sergeant now, but I'm not sure if it really worked that well. There wasn't too much action in this chapter, because it's mostly foreshadowing and stuff! I wonder why Drew's so uptight over the bank statements *wiggly eyebrows*<p>

The stamp stations were a reference to a pokemon episode where they participated in a similar competition, but I'm not sure if anyone noticed haha.

Look forward to the preliminary re-test in the next chapter!

And most importantly, how will they even spend their night(s) together in the same room? Muahahaha stay tuned!

Finally, I'm sorry that my chapter names are so horrible T.T I suck at cool titles.

Please review to encourage us writers to keep on writing! They're really a pick-me-up!


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